


The Red Hood and the Wolves

by Repeatinglitanies



Series: Fairy Tales Told at the End of the World [4]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Don’t copy to another site, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Gen, Klaus and mention of his use of mushrooms, Slow Burn, change in ratings from teen to mature, reference to masturbation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-19 16:29:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19977094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Repeatinglitanies/pseuds/Repeatinglitanies
Summary: According to everyone in the village, the forest was the origin of horrors and nightmares. Every dark thing one can imagine was spawned there and continued to make its home there. But that didn’t stop people from venturing to the so-called evil-infested birthplace of darkness.Because as much as it had taken lives, figuratively eaten adventurers and never spat them out, the forest was their only source of livelihood. As far as the villagers were concerned, the world consisted of their village and the forest. There was nothing else.





	1. Chapter 1

According to everyone in the village, the forest was the origin of horrors and nightmares. Every dark thing one can imagine was spawned there and continued to make its home there. But that didn’t stop people from venturing to the so-called evil-infested birthplace of darkness. 

Because as much as it had taken lives, figuratively eaten adventurers and never spat them out, the forest was their only source of livelihood. As far as the villagers were concerned, the world consisted of their village and the forest. There was nothing else. 

Vanya’s mother told her that humans had once conquered the forest. They built roads that lead to other villages, other lands. They had machines that could travel faster than any horse. But then, men created weapons as well. Weapons that almost destroyed everything.

Now, only the village remained. And the forest regained the land it once lost to humans.

Of the roads men built, there was only one left. One that took villagers from their home to the heart of the forest, where a great Inventor lived. In order to stay safe, everyone had to remain on the path. Stay on the road. To wander outside it was to court death and disaster. But throughout the years, many (whether child or grown) had turned away from the security of that one road. They paid for it by never finding their way back to their families ever again. Or at the very least, they never come back alive or whole.

The Inventor was the only one who could safely live in the forest. Every other human being had to reside in the village. That made everyone Vanya knew wary of the Inventor. But like the forest itself, everyone acknowledged that they needed his machines to survive. So in exchange for his inventions, the village supplied him with food.

The great man of the forest did not deign to cook. Hence three times a day, someone would be tasked to bring his meal straight from the warm oven and to his dining table. If it isn’t to his liking (which happened often), the courier would be forced to use the Inventor’s kitchen and make another set that fit the old man’s exacting standards. Many a villager would comment (of course outside the Inventor’s hearing) of the utter waste. Because the Inventor insisted that the original meals were never to be brought back to the village. 

Today was Vanya’s fifteenth day to assume this duty. And it looked like she would be stuck with it for the rest of her life. Truth be told, Vanya did not care to carry a heavy-laden basket all the way to the Inventor’s home. The Inventor was a cold, hard old man that had nothing good to say about the villagers or Vanya for that matter. He looked down on them even as he accepted and wasted their food. 

She would have rather stayed in the village and played her violin for her friends.

But Vanya knew there was no use lamenting on what could have been. She just had to do her job. The earlier she started, the sooner she could finish and get back home. As always, Mom and Pogo saw her out of their cottage. They both reminded her to wear her red hooded cloak to prevent her from catching a chill. 

Then, they reminded her to stay on the path. No matter what Vanya saw or heard while in the forest, she was to never leave the road. Vanya wanted to protest. She had heard this a dozen times by now and would already know this warning by heart. 

While she herself had never encountered anything out of the ordinary (the view always consisted of trees, trees and more trees), Vanya would like to think that she would have the presence of mind to keep calm if the unexpected ever occurred. 

But her guardians had the tendency to be overprotective. And Vanya knew they had their reasons.

Vanya was already sixteen. But she had yet to have her monthly courses. 

With each passing day that it did not come, the villagers had resigned themselves to oblivion. Because Vanya was the only child left to a village of the old and decrepit. 

Mom was a machine that the Inventor created to care for Vanya as she grew up. And Pogo lived with them to ensure all the mechanisms that kept the village running were maintained. 

Vanya did not want to dwell on the high probability of being the last human left. So she ran as fast as her legs and her basket of food could take her.

_________________

What met her at the heart of the forest was a dead Inventor. Vanya found him in his reading room, slumped on his favorite chair by the fireplace. His body cold and stiff when she tried to check for a pulse.

This was certainly something out of the ordinary. This was definitive proof that she never had to deliver the Inventor’s food to him ever again. But Vanya did not feel like dancing for joy.

So she left his house. Vanya tried to run all the way home. But she had spent most of her energy running towards the forest. She did not have much left to run straight to the village.

But it seemed horror followed the same path and reached the village before she did. When she reached home, all that was left of it and of the whole village was ashes.

__________________

Vanya did not know what she did after that. But after wandering around what was once her home, she realized she must have gone back into the forest. Like some automaton, she simply walked the winding road back to the Inventor’s house.

Upon realizing that, she stopped dead in her tracks. What was the point, after all? The Inventor’s house may provide shelter but she was all alone. Truly she was the last human left. 

Vanya thought she would have more years in between today and the day everyone she knew was gone. But it finally came. And it was much sooner than anyone ever expected.

Vanya lay on the road and waited to die. But after what could be days, hours or mere minutes, she decided she wasn’t dying fast enough. The road kept her safe.

So she took what would probably be the final steps she would ever take.

She left the road and walked among the lush, green trees that had probably long heralded her death.

Vanya trudged aimlessly for a very long time. It wasn't long enough though. Because the sun was still up in the sky. But by now, even if she had wanted to go back to the road, she would not know how. Good thing going back was the last thing she desired. So she kept walking away from what she thought was the direction of the road.

_“Come here, girl.”_

Vanya had never heard that voice before. She was sure she did not know anyone with that voice. It sounded sweet and comforting. But it did not belong to Mom.

Immediately, Vanya remembered all the stories. Monsters and demons reside in the woods. No one came back the same after leaving the path because they returned either dead or mad.

But what if it was another human? Vanya did not relish the thought of being all alone. If it was another person, at least she would have someone. If it wasn’t, Vanya just hoped that her death would be quick.

So she followed the direction of the voice. But as she drew nearer, she realized something that chilled her to the bones. 

Vanya wasn’t hearing the voice. Her ears registered no sound. Instead, it was her mind that processed it.

For a brief moment, she wondered if she had gone mad at finding everyone she loved burned beyond recognition.

_“I’m right here. Come here, please.”_

Vanya truly hoped there was someone there. She was shaking and her heart was beating as if she had ran a whole mile.

When she finally came face to face with the owner of that voice, all her thoughts of dying left her. Vanya would have laughed at her fickle mind.

But facing a wolf with jaws big enough to gobble her up seemed to have jump-started Vanya’s survival instincts.

Vanya slowly backed away only to hear a growl behind her. Then she noticed other wolves stepping out of the verdant foliage.

Each one was at least her size, if not larger. She counted a total of six wolves in her vicinity. Five of them surrounding her while one was incapacitated on the ground with a long wooden shaft that went straight through its leg.

_“I heard a rumor you calmed down”_

And almost just like that, Vanya’s breathing evened out, her heart slowed to a normal pace. But Vanya didn’t understand. She wanted to run away, scream and shout for help, cry and beg. But instead, she stood in the midst of wolves. Where they to eat her? Did the she-wolf (Vanya definitely thought the wolf who spoke to her was female) have powers that kept her at ease while the whole pack devoured her?

It was funny that only when Vanya was staring at the literal jaws of death, she finally decided she wanted to live after all. Even if she was the last person alive. 

But if this was to be her final moments, she wanted to take a good look at her would-be killers. 

Staring at them was akin to looking at an open flame. Vanya knew they could easily tear her apart. And yet, their beauty fascinated her. She wanted to touch their thick furs and see if they were as soft as they looked. Each one had different coloring, but what really set the wolves apart from the other were the patterns on their foreheads.

Vanya first saw the she-wolf’s marks. At first, Vanya thought that the pattern was just three I’s. But she realized it was the Roman numeral for three. And each wolf had its designated number. 

_“Just tell her what she’s here for, Allison! We don’t have time.”_

Allison? If anything was to distract Vanya from the thought of her impending death, it’s the idea of a she-wolf named Allison. 

The voice came from the wolf with the Roman number two on his forehead. And Vanya marveled at how she could know who it came from. If anyone asked Vanya how she was able to pinpoint the origin of that gruff voice (more of a thought, really), she wouldn’t be able to say. The closest explanation she could come up with was that instinct told her it came from Number Two.

_“Could you help our brother?”_

The she-wolf, Allison, looked her in the eye as she made the request. Vanya read somewhere that she should avoid eye contact with animals like wolves or monkeys because it would be akin to challenging them. But Allison and the other wolves were far from ordinary animals. Not that Vanya had seen or interacted with live wolves before. However, the books would not have missed to tell her if wolves could communicate telepathically with humans. 

Not for the first time, Vanya wondered if her mind just conjured all of this up. This was when the wolf behind her, Number Two, gave her a short nip on the butt. It was more of a pinch than a sharp pain. But that certainly jolted Vanya out of her reverie.

_“Answer her! Can you help or not?”_

Vanya rubbed her behind as she looked at their fallen brother. She tried to think out loud to communicate. But with no response from the wolves, she decided to speak instead.

“I can pull out the shaft. But I’d need medicine and other supplies to heal him.”

Allison put one paw on her shoulder, perhaps to imitate a human gesture for reassurance. 

_“That’s all we need.”_

_______________

Pulling out a huge stick of wood from an unconscious wolf’s leg was easier said than done. Vanya hoped that the difficulty she imagined was all in her head. The incapacitated wolf, Number Five, was the smallest of the six wolves but he was big enough to kill her even if he wasn’t able to move as freely as his siblings.

It didn’t help that Number Four, Klaus, felt the need to share information about her patient Number Five, who was just called Five and nothing else. If Klaus was to be believed, Number Five hated, absolutely hated humans and had the largest kill count of the siblings. 

As a way to steady herself and keep Five out of view, she took off her red cloak and covered the injured wolf with it. It turned out to be of little use. Her right hand was still shaking as she gingerly gripped the shaft. It took even longer for her left hand to reach Five’s hind leg. 

When both hands were in place, she started to pull. Taking it out was a lot harder than it looked. But she was making some headway. Vanya could feel she was close to getting it fully out of the wolf when she felt the jaws clamped shut on her left arm.

Five was awake. And he did not appreciate the pain she was causing him. Had he not been in excruciating pain, Five would have killed her for even touching him. His siblings did not attempt to interfere. They knew Five. He would only bite all the harder if they told him to stop.

With Five feeling the need to pass pain around, Vanya almost let go of the shaft. She thought of actually doing it and using her right hand to somehow try to get Five to unhinge his jaw wide enough to let go of her arm.

But she decided against it for a couple of reasons. One, she was almost done and she did not want Number Two, Diego, to bite her in the ass again just to finish the job. And two, weird as it was, the crazed look of pain in Number Five’s eyes made her feel sympathy for the wolf.

Vanya read in a book once that people tend to see signs and render meaning to things even when there was none. But Vanya chose to ignore the book’s wisdom. She gazed at the “V” on Five’s forehead and saw it as a V for Vanya and a V for Victory.

Vanya might be the last human left alive. But she would live. She would find a way to survive somehow and she would live.

So while knowing full well that it might be construed as a challenge, Vanya looked Number Five in the eyes.

“I know you’re in pain. But your siblings say that this shaft has to come off. I’m close. Let me finish this. I know you can understand me. And I know you don’t like my kind very much. But for now, I’m the only one who can help you. Let me do this.”

Vanya’s eyes were watering because she was having a stare off with a wolf and she didn’t think it was appropriate to blink first. Thankfully, Five saw reason. He let go off her arm.

And she finally got the shaft out.

It was then that she realized that it had gotten dark. The sun was down.

Allison and Klaus licked the sweat of her face. And Number Six, Ben, leaned at her back in a show of solidarity.

_“You should change now, Five”_

Number One, Luther, was the biggest wolf of the six. He had introduced himself as the leader of the pack, though Diego and Klaus constantly said it was more a self-appointment rather than an election that got him that role.

Vanya did not understand what Luther meant. But Five did not seem to be in a hurry to obey him.

However, in the next instant, Vanya yelped to find the furry hind leg she was still holding had turned into a bare human leg. It was disconcerting given that Five was still mostly wolf. The partial transformation from wolf to man was enough to heal his wound. And when Five was satisfied, he turned his leg back to wolf form.

________________

_“No! Just no! We can’t keep a human as a pet!”_

Five’s voice or rather Five’s thoughts rang loud in Vanya’s mind. As soon as Five pronounced himself well enough to go back to their home, Allison and Klaus insisted that they take Vanya with them.

_“Vanya is not a pet! She’d help around! She can cook! We’ll finally be able to eat something cooked straight from the fire again!”_

Klaus seemed very eager for cooked meals. And Vanya wondered if someone ever fed him. Did one of the villagers ever throw a piece of the Inventor's food at the forest? Vanya could very well imagine that villager thinking he might as well waste it considering what the Inventor was going to do with it anyway.

Vanya wasn’t overly enthusiastic herself about going into a literal den of wolves. But she had nowhere else to go. Besides, it was already dark and she was tired. She did not know what the future had in store for her. But at the moment, she was content for a safe space to sleep.

Perhaps Vanya was just so tired that she said the first thing that landed on her mind. In hindsight, it ended up being the most ridiculous thing she’d ever said.

“Please let me stay with you. Klaus is right. I can be useful, I promise! I would brush your furs for you everyday, if you’d let me!”

There was a long pause after that outburst. Neither the wolves nor the girl moved. Vanya felt her cheeks burning after hearing her own silly offer.

And yet, when she looked at the wolves, they all looked like they were seriously considering it.

In the end, Vanya found herself riding Luther’s back to the wolves’ home.

And that was how she became their groomer


	2. Chapter 2

Living with wolves was nothing like Vanya ever imagined. That first night, she fully expected them to take her to a cave somewhere. Instead, she found herself in front of a building made of stone. The letters at the front said it was the Argyle Public Library.

Having been abandoned for many years, the Library (it was the Wolf Den now) interior was dark and dusty. But as soon as she reached the foot of one of its staircases, the building immediately lit up. Vanya’s eyes roamed around her to see stairs leading to multiple floors of books and shelves. Any other day, she would have leapt at the chance to explore.

But now, she was a strange mixture of guest and servant in the wolf siblings’ home. Ben tugged at her cloak to get her to keep moving. He lead her to a seat, which Vanya interpreted as Ben wanting her to sit down. 

She barely had time to marvel at the cushion when she saw four naked strangers in front of her. Later, Vanya would be dissecting this moment. She would try to determine at what point exactly did the transformation begin. But at the time, Vanya reacted on instinct and turned her head away.

“I told you this was a bad idea. The old man said that humans had to wear clothes when talking to each other,” Diego scowled at Luther as he reached for a pile of what Vanya would later recognize as clothing and threw various fabrics at his siblings. 

Diego’s thoughts sounded just like his voice. At least, that’s how Vanya explained being able to recognize him to herself. Strangely enough, there were no Roman numeral marks on their now human foreheads. Of the six wolves, only four were in human form. They all looked to be the same age as her.

Being the only female, Vanya quickly recognized Allison who looked beautiful with her long dark hair and skin.

Luther’s imposing figure even as a teenage boy gave him away.

Hence, by process of elimination, that left Klaus as the remaining wolf-turned-boy.

Ben was still in his wolf form. And Vanya had to wonder how they could change. Was it magic? Or something else?

Vanya heard a growl and had her turning to its direction. She found Five who was still in wolf form, a pair of underwear on his head with an ear sticking out of a leg hole. 

She couldn’t help herself and started laughing.

Even Five’s sudden appearance in front of her, both paws on either side of the chair, couldn’t cease her giggles. He was trying to look menacing. But to Vanya’s eyes, he just looked so ridiculous with the underwear perched on his head.

“I’m sorry! Here. Let me take that off.”

Vanya still remembered the strength of his bite. She was able to stop the bleeding and bandage her hand. But if Five had wanted to kill her, he would have done so long before now. So she paid no attention to his snarls, gingerly placed both thumb and pointer finger on the piece of fabric and finally restored some of Five’s dignity.

Allison approached her, carrying a box with a red cross on it. Allison did not know how to use it. But Vanya was more than capable of patching herself up. The box had the medication she needed to treat the bite.

She could feel six pairs of eyes watching her intently. Studying how she took care of herself. 

Vanya had so many questions. Were they wolves that can turn human? Or was it the other way around? Who was the old man Diego talked about?

Back home, Pogo usually guessed her questions before she even voiced them. But she wasn’t home anymore. And for the foreseeable future, this was home.

Now, she can only rely on herself to find answers. 

Her instincts told her there was only one old man it could possibly be. The only one who had lived in the forest for years without fear.

The Inventor.

“How do you know the Inventor?”

Shock was an understatement for what she felt when Allison told her. Though in hindsight, it all made sense.

———————

The siblings themselves didn’t even know if they were originally wolves or people. For as long as they could remember, they could be both. 

But it was in wolf form that their powers were at their peak. It was also the wolf form that had the best control of their powers.

So they didn’t mind much that they could only choose to turn human when the sun went down. But they could stay in their wolf forms all day and all night if they wished. The Inventor never bothered to explain why the human form was so dependent on the setting of the sun. It was possible he didn’t know himself. Or it was just one of the ways he kept control over them.

For the old man had been their keeper, their instructor and their tyrant. He trained them in the use of their powers. But wished them to keep their human forms even if their hold on their abilities as humans were unreliable at best.

From him, they learned some of the “human arts” such as using cutlery on food that was heated with fire. They knew how to dress themselves and to swim the human way. 

The siblings also learned how to read, write and do maths. Most important to the old man, they learned how to kill. When Allison said this, she was not speaking of the necessary kill that came at the end of hunting prey.

As wolves with sharp teeth and claws and swift legs, that was instinctual for them.

But as humans with no natural weapons and numerous vulnerabilities, the old man taught them to use whatever means at their disposal to take life. Human life.

For as long as they could remember, they were told that other humans were the enemy. That humans were supposed to stay in the path and in their village. Anyone the siblings found wandering outside the path were dealt with either by the taking of lives or sanity (Allison and Klaus had the means to take the latter)

A long time ago, the siblings stayed with the old man in his home. When one of the villagers came to deliver the meals, the siblings were either out of the house or merely out of sight. When the old man sent the courier away, the siblings would be told to turn to human form and eat like civilized people.

And for a long time, they followed the old man’s commands. Until the day they decided not to. Until the day they realized there was no sense in following. So they left the old man and his home in the heart of the forest. And stayed in the huge stone building that housed thousands of books.

The old man knew they loved human food and had tried more than once to entice them back with it. But after all they learned about him, they never went for the Inventor’s obvious trap.

It was a bit of a relief when he died. They knew right away because they heard the explosion coming from the village, smelled the scent of charred meat and ash in the air.

The old man did say that he ensured that the village wouldn’t survive without him. As soon as his heart expired, every machine in the village detonated.

_______________

“I don’t understand. Why would the Inventor have you kill humans? And he was the one who always sent reminders that the forest was dangerous. So what did he want?”

Vanya was aghast by the revelation. She never liked the old man. But it didn’t make sense to her. Why would he provide machines that helped her village tend the land and dispense medication but then decide to have wolves kill villagers? Why would he want to take innocent people with him as he died?

_”He wanted everything under his control. When we escaped him, he knew his control was slipping. It was only a matter of time before someone from the village visited the forest against his wishes and found out it wasn’t actively out to get people. How likely do you think your village would keep on relying on him when they can get more resources out of the forest? I don’t think they liked him very much. Your villagers aren’t that old, from what I saw of them. Besides, if they were as suspicious of the old man as I think, enough of them would probably risk the forest many times over than go back to him for help”_

Vanya gazed at Number Five, whose cool assessing gaze stared back at her. He painted a picture of an Inventor who wanted to be like a god. One who held the power of life and death in his hands. Follow his commands and you get to live. Disobey and be punished.

All throughout the night, her mind went back to her village. Her family and friends were gone. And she was all alone to face an uncertain future.

Perhaps, she was being overdramatic. After all, she was lying in a mattress surrounded by dozing wolves. So she wasn’t as alone as she feared. 

The lights were shut off now. But she planned what she would be doing the next day. Allison promised to show her around the building and tell her where they kept their stores. Apparently, only Five preferred staying in wolf form full time, seeing little to no use for it. The others alternated between forms hunting for meat as wolves and preserving what they didn’t consume as humans. 

Vanya noticed that they weren’t very good housekeepers. So she decided to clean the building tomorrow, starting with the common areas.

The heating wasn’t working properly so the wolves and Vanya were forced to stay close together for warmth. Ben told her to lay her head on him while Allison and Klaus were on either side of her. She didn’t know how but she could make out Five rising up from his position. He disappeared in a flash of blue light.

Vanya wondered what he was going to do and where he was going. But her body gave in to fatigue before she could decide to satisfy her curiosity.

_______________

Days of living with wolves that were sometimes (maybe most of the time) no better than puppies proved to be an excellent distraction from her melancholy for the simple fact that it gave Vanya lots of work to do. Cleaning a huge building was no easy task. But with six wolves telling her to brush their white, brown, and/or black-colored fur every so often, Vanya was starting to wonder if she’d ever finish. Because after brushing came shed fur strewn on the floor she had just swept and mopped a few hours earlier.

She had assumed the more stand-offish Five and Diego would be using her grooming services sparingly. But no. The others had no problem asking her in public with the other wolves’ ears in the vicinity. But not Five and Diego. When she thought she had a moment to herself, one of them would somehow sneak up on her just to get her to groom one of them in a private room. 

As far as Vanya knew, they weren’t in on the other’s schedule. By the time she realized months had already passed, she started to wonder. Because they never asked her at the same time.

Those two were the most difficult of the wolves to get close to. But to be fair to Diego, he helped her by skinning the animals they brought back for dinner. Most of the time, Diego already sliced the parts and all Vanya needed to do was add seasoning and cook.

On the other hand, Five’s only contribution was to stay out of her way. 

It was a good thing she enjoyed brushing their luxuriant coats, even Five’s. Or should she say, especially Five’s. 

At first, he kept his eyes open as he lay on a cushion when she combed his fur. Overtime, he’d doze off and only wake up long after she was done. Recently, he deigned to allow her to scratch him behind the hard to reach place at the back of his ears. During those times, he would lay on his side with his head on her lap.

He’d pretend nothing monumental happened afterwards. And Vanya chose not to say a word about it.

Five reacted the same way when he realized that Vanya knew where he went late at night when his siblings were fast asleep.

She couldn’t say her discovery was an accident. Not exactly. Because she did explore the library fully intending to find out what Five was up to. 

She knew Allison and Klaus loved the romance and modern fiction sections of the library. Ben was more of a classic literature fan. Diego and Luther frequented the multimedia section. Though she did notice Diego reading books on physical fitness and bodybuilding while Luther made no secret of his love for rockets and any books about space. 

These were all on the lower levels. Besides, the disturbance in the layers of dust by telltale paw and foot prints were dead giveaways.

There were no prints on the stairs leading to the top floors. But Five didn’t need the stairs to get there.

And in one of the rooms, she found Five’s secret: hand-written equations on the walls. To his credit, Five cleared the walls of dust and cobwebs before he decided to fill it with formulas written in chalk. Which meant that when his siblings weren’t looking, he took human form to write these. She assumed he was in human form when he looked through the myriad of books strewn across the floor.

Vanya noticed a plate of half-eaten bread with what appeared to be a filling of peanut butter and marshmallows. 

A few days ago, they had raided the Inventor’s storage and found all these foodstuffs that definitely did not come from the village. Apparently, that was another lie the old man propagated. There were human civilizations beyond the forest. Whatever his reasons may be, the old man wanted the village isolated.

To know that there were humans still out there brought Vanya some comfort. But strangely enough, she was already feeling at home with the wolves and was in no hurry to rejoin human society. 

So she went about her day almost as per usual. Cleaning parts of the building, washing clothes and cooking human food that the wolves sans Five enjoyed. Because Five (at least in front of his siblings) chose to eat from his non-human kills.

And now Vanya knew where that last bag of marshmallows went. 

A few days later, the wolves enjoyed her homemade marshmallows. And Five found his secret room tidied up with a plate of her mallows waiting on the table along with a few slices of bread and a small jar of peanut butter.

————

This idyllic life continued for around a year until one day, Vanya collapsed as she was picking mushrooms with Ben and Klaus. 

Ben was attentively helping her find the edible ones she could cook. Klaus was looking for the hallucinogenic type. It was an ordinary day and they had no reason to suspect anything was amiss until Vanya fell to the ground.

It was daytime so they didn’t have hands to carry her. Or the ability to transform even if they wanted to. When they recognized the new scent coming from her, they howled as loud as they could for help.

They knew the scent of blood. She was injured somehow. And they did not know how to help. Because the injury seemed to be internal because the blood, as far as they could tell was coming from between her legs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how wolves normally act. So please expect a lot of inaccuracies of wolf behavior.


	3. Chapter 3

_”She’s wounded. I say we stop the bleeding!”_

_”Klaus, no! Remember last time? Vanya said it’s a no-touch zone! So no licking, touching or even putting our noses anywhere near that place! Besides, didn’t you say human girls don’t let just anyone touch them there?”_

_”But this is an emergency, Ben!”_

What were Klaus and Ben arguing about? Those were the first thoughts to come into Vanya’s head as she opened her eyes. It took her several attempts but after using a hand to rub at her eyes, Vanya woke up to find green eyes boring into hers. 

A stranger owned those eyes. Dark hair. Serious demeanor. But was that concern on his face? Concern for her? That was strange. She didn’t know this boy, who appeared out of the blue and looked no older than her.

His face was mere inches away from hers and Vanya would have normally taken a step back at being so close to someone who was neither friend nor family. It made her wonder why she was so still only to realize that she hadn’t made any sudden movements because she was on the ground.

It was already dark. And like a flash of lightning, she remembered that she was supposed to have been picking mushrooms for dinner. Maybe the sun was just too hot today. Because she had felt dizzy. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground with a stranger pushing up her skirts as Ben and Klaus continued their debate.

_Wait, what?_

Instantly, Vanya sat up and caught the hand at the hem of her skirt. She was more than a little alarmed that this boy would brazenly do something so indecent. Vanya had just gained consciousness. The last thing she needed was a boy trying to initiate sex. 

For a moment, Vanya was caught off guard by that thought. What made her think sex was what he wanted? Her eyes then decided to roam below the stranger’s face.

He was naked. And Vanya could not remember the last time her cheeks had felt so inflamed.

“Stay still! I need to see the wound!”

Five? His voice definitely belonged to Five. 

He took her momentary shock to reach for her underwear to pull it down. It was only at that point when Vanya found her voice and screamed bloody murder.

Coincidentally, a branch from a nearby tree seemed to have joined into the chaos by falling on the ground just a few feet from where Ben and Klaus where standing.

And for a few moments, there was complete and utter silence.

______________

Needless to say, it took time to convince three wolf siblings that she wasn’t dying. That the blood coming from between her legs was actually a normal process. All three looked unconvinced. So Vanya had to promise to show them a book to prove that she was being serious and not just saying things to keep them from worrying.

Vanya honestly did not know how to feel. She had thought it would never come. And she had come to accept that.

But now that it was here, there were suddenly new possibilities open to her. If Vanya chose, she could go out and find other humans. Surely, they exist somewhere out there if the Inventor had been trading goods outside of the village. Perhaps she could find someone to have a child with and grow old with.

For some reason, she wasn’t too enthusiastic about the thought. Maybe it was because she was afraid to meet new people. There was a chance they would be like her friends in the village. But what if they were like the Inventor?

And besides, she was happy living with the wolves. Sure, sometimes she felt lonely because she couldn’t relate to a lot of their anecdotes. They grew up together and she had only met them a little over a year ago. Also, they could turn into wolves. While Vanya herself thought such an ability to be amazing, she knew it was far beyond her capabilities. It would be ridiculous to even think she could morph into a wolf with enough practice. So there was this whole dimension of the wolf siblings that she could never truly understand.

But despite this chasm, Vanya felt close to them. To her surprise, she felt closer to the wolf siblings than to the villagers she had known all her life. 

Perhaps this feeling of intimacy was inevitable. The wolf siblings kept her alive just as she took care of their needs. She cooked their food, mended their human clothes, kept the Library/Wolf Den clean and brushed their soft furs almost every day.

Vanya felt needed and cared for. And she didn’t want to lose that.

Which was why she barely made a protest when Five took her in his arms. Vanya certainly did not fail to note that it was a bridal carry. But of course, she kept it to herself as she and Five disappeared from the woods and reappeared in his private room.

_______________

Klaus and Ben related the day’s misadventures to the others. And soon, all six siblings took turns looking intently at a book on menstruation. It was such a shock to the siblings because the old man had never mentioned this when he discussed the female anatomy.

Allison herself had so many questions for Vanya. Because apparently, Allison never had a period. Perhaps the transformation from wolf to girl and vice versa prevented it. But whatever the case may be, Vanya didn’t know whether to pity or envy Allison.

Having a period in the middle of the woods was inconvenient. The books she read had talked about disposable tampons and menstrual pads to manage the flow of blood. Vanya had a lot of chores to do and she did not appreciate blood running down her legs. But the age of disposable absorbent napkins were long past.

Vanya had to make do with towels she cut into strips. Every night, she would have to remove the stained cloth to wash and then air dry. Because she lived with six individuals with a strong sense of smell, Vanya felt the need to clean her special cloths as far away from the siblings as possible.

Unfortunately, Ben and Klaus might have taken her sudden lapse into unconsciousness to heart. Ever since then, they stuck to her and followed her wherever she went. Vanya had to put her foot down when they tried to follow her into the bathroom. But that wasn’t much help as they simply stood sentinel outside the door. So Vanya’s period ended up costing her privacy.

________________

Vanya was in the kitchen, chopping up vegetables she just took out from her garden when Klaus suddenly broached a topic that nearly cost Vanya a finger.

_”Will the baby come out of you soon?”_

Klaus had no filter and tended to say whatever came to mind. Though sometimes Vanya couldn’t tell if it was really Klaus talking or if it was Klaus heavily under the influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms. Truth be told, most times, Vanya could not tell the difference.

But before Vanya could even respond, Ben answered for her.

_”Klaus! That’s rude! Besides, Vanya needs to have sex with someone before a baby comes out.”_

She hated how her faced rivaled the redness of a tomato just as she hated how she was left at a loss for words. Not for the first time, Vanya reminded herself that Klaus and Ben had never interacted with other humans aside from the Inventor. They would have little idea on what topics were considered appropriate.

Living among six wolves who turned human sometimes felt like living with toddlers. While there were times when her companions tested her patience, Vanya felt that overall it was rewarding. She knew where she stood with the wolf siblings. If they didn’t like you, they’d show it. And the opposite was also true. 

When she looked back at the past year, she could definitely say that they saved her life. While she could have survived by living in the Inventor’s house, Vanya honestly did not think she would have wanted to reside there for any period of time. The Inventor’s house was dark and lonely. She knew in her bones that she would never truly feel at home there. And whether by physically leaving or taking her own life, Vanya would have departed that gloomy place had she decided to stay there.

The first time she set eyes on the Library, she thought it looked even more haunted than the Inventor’s house, with the impression of abandonment it set off. But Vanya supposed it was the company that eventually made the library feel like home. 

Luther was always on hand to help if she needed to reach top shelves or clean ceilings. Diego was the one who taught her the proper use of knives, kitchen or otherwise. Allison always felt like the elder sister Vanya never had, ready to dispense advice and back Vanya up in an argument. Klaus and Ben were always getting into some sort of trouble that Vanya sometimes felt like their mom with having to watch over them, play with them and occasionally patch them up when they got rowdy and hurt themselves.

Then, there was Five. She didn’t talk to him much because he kept to himself. Until the day she collapsed, Vanya had never even seen his full human form. But even though she didn’t feel like she knew him as well as the others, she valued his opinion. Five didn’t do anything special. But whenever he laid his head on her lap as she brushed him or whenever he would finish the food she’d set for him, Vanya would feel like she was being praised, as if she was bestowed some sort of honor.

Ever since she started living with the wolves, Five had been keeping a close eye on her. At first, it was to monitor her as a possible threat. But as time went by, Vanya started to think that Five now saw her as some sort of strange puppy that needed to be protected.

So it was with the thought of the siblings as family in mind that Vanya gently explained to Ben and Klaus that she was not having a baby. And she was not going to be having sex with anyone anytime soon.

_”Why not? I know someone who’d be up for having sex with you.”_

Vanya thought that the best way to respond was to ignore that comment. She went back to preparing dinner while trying not to think about who Klaus might be referring to.

_______________

Five had half a mind to bite Klaus’ head off. With his jaws, Five was pretty confident he could do it too. He was minding his own business when he heard the conversation going on as he passed by the kitchen. Five did not miss Klaus’ sidelong glance at him when the idiot told Vanya about a certain someone wanting to mate with her.

In response, Five bared his teeth. And Klaus was cowed into silence.

Five had always been curious about Vanya ever since the girl held her ground even as his teeth were deeply embedded on her vulnerable skin. At first, he came to her out of necessity. He had an excessive amount of fur. And it was convenient to have human hands around to keep his coat maintained. Besides, it wasn’t such a big risk to trust her with that duty. Vanya had nowhere to go and no other human lived close by. She wasn’t likely to betray them by leading villagers to their home.

But things changed as time passed. And so did his perception of Vanya. Five had no problem lumping Vanya together with the Inventor when he only saw the girl as just another ordinary human.However, living with her brought the opportunity to get to know her better, whether he liked it or not.

What he discovered was a brave human girl who made the best out of a very bad situation. And slowly became an integral part of the pack.

Five told himself that this admiration was the only reason why his eyes would wander towards her direction or why his senses were always attuned to her whereabouts. He only saw her as a girl deserving respect and protection. Someone who was a friend, though Five would never say it out loud to anyone, especially Vanya.

Then came the day he heard Ben and Klaus’ howl for help. Five knew it was about Vanya immediately and wasted no time to use his powers to get to her side. He had scented the blood coming from Vanya’s “no-touch” zone. He found the term ridiculous. But living with wolves meant having little privacy, so he and his siblings had to humor her on that one small thing.

Now, he had to go against her wishes because she was injured. He needed to see the wound before he could have a better idea on how to handle it. Five hadn’t realized he’d taken on his human form until Vanya stopped him from getting a closer look.

That was when Five got an inkling that he saw her as more than just a friend. Being shown a book that discussed the workings of the female reproductive system only had him jumping on to a different but related subject: human mating. And after reading up on that, he could never really look at Vanya the same way again.

He knew that the lumps on her chest were made for feeding young. But Five couldn’t stop staring at them. He tried to get rid of this obsession by attempting to only look at her when her back was turned. But that only made him notice how fascinating her backside was.

When he was alone in his private room and in his human form (because he needed hands), his thoughts would eventually lead to the thatch of curls he saw between her legs. He found the image powerful enough to harden a certain part of his anatomy, which he saw as a weakness.

Five blamed his human form for that. Not for the first time, he wished he only had a wolf form where this longing was easier to suppress. But without the human form, it would be hard to read books or to write a mathematical equation. And for all its frailty, there was a pleasure to be gained from using his hand to calm his urges.

He only wished his thoughts didn’t stray so often to Vanya whenever he felt those urges or to have them as soon as he thought of her. But it was a cycle he could not break out of. So he resigned himself to this predicament. Five had a feeling it wouldn’t end anytime soon.


End file.
